Undokai!!! the Sports festival to end all..

Hey everybody,

Its another month and summer is finally gracing its lovely touch on Japan. I recently came back to Japan from America, which is a weird feeling. Leaving your home for your other home in Japan. Although you would think I would have some reverse culture shock, it actually wasn't that bad. It was more like returning to my hermitage on Foreign World Island(that's my idea for a new Japanese theme park). Surprisingly my Japanese abilities didn't shrivel up and hide but in fact seem to have improved. It could be the weather too that is digging me out of my funk. But I'm not here to talk to you about my daily feelings i will leave that to my psychiatrist. I'm here to tell you about Sports Festival...

Yes as cheesy as it sounds my little JHS is having its annual sports festival. It is entirely foreign to me and like nothing I've seen before. Not only is it a week long (5 days of practice for the big show) it is the most exciting time of the year for many involved. It more closely resembles a cross between a Junior Olympics and a Barnum and Baily's circus. Students compete in games some involving real sports and others just weird objects; like a kind of tug-o-war but with a bamboo pole.

The first and most important part of Undokai is that all students and teachers are split into four teams; green team, yellow team, white team, and red team and all these teams are differentiated by colored headbands everyone wears. The reasons behind why students are placed in one team or another is beyond me. I imagine its divided for competitive fairness. I got placed on the YEllOW team!! Not that I will compete but i guess it's my job is to watch, keep students in line(in both senses of the word) and cheer them on.

Now as much as I would be bored by this day of competitive school pride when I was a kid, it is turning into my favorite week of the school year. Not only am I excited about all the games but I feel like I am helping out and working like everyone else at school. It is tiring but I get to be outside all day being a coach, watching students run around looking exhausted. Its great and not just because its a week off of classes for me. I have really enjoyed myself.

Then the big day came. I was anxious and nervous to see how it would all go down. I arrived at school on time, around 8am to find the school field completely transformed. There were cars parked along one edge of it and teachers quickly doing last minute preparations on the other side of the field. I actually felt like I was late and rushed in school to find everyone busy. I quickly tried to make myself useful and asked teachers if I could help. I made my way outside and it was looking like a beautiful day. I carried some stuff here and there under the spectator tents. On the other side of the field the students gathered at their respective team areas. The tension was mounting in anticipation for this momentous day to start. I found my place with the other yellow team teachers and the opening ceremonies began.

The students began to march team by team around the track like an army kicking out their legs and arms. They then lined up facing the tents and we began to sing the national anthem and school song. A few guest speakers and a presentation of the flags and trophies followed. Then the games began.

The games were varied and divided up by each grade. Most of them involved running but there were a hand full of weird games Ive never seen. I was fairly confident my team would do good because most of the older kids were really skinny and could run fast. I didn't understand the scoring at all though. There was a big scoreboard hanging on the school that would change 4 or 5 times during the day but the numbers kept getting bigger and bigger and ended at like 900. My favorite games were something called the Bamboo pole take-down. Human horse jousting, the Caterpillar and obstacle water slide. The first one is exactly like it sounds where two teams had a group of their third years(only the guys played) hold a bamboo pole with a big cushion around the bottom up in the air while 6 or 7 guys from the other team climbed up it to try and bring it down. My next favorite used 4 man groups to form a horse and a rider. So the three men would hold up another person and face off against other 4-man groups on the other teams by trying to knock the rider down. After a few minutes the team with the most riders still on their horses won. This was a pretty violent game but fun. The Caterpillar game involved four big cardboard boxes taped into a Circe. All the first graders lined up with half on one side of the field and half on the other. Then they raced in two man teams by crawling in the box like a tank wheel until everyone had gone.

My last and favorite, the water slide game was actually the most bizarre. It seemed like something right out of some Japanese game show. It started off with four people on the track (all the 3rd grade did this). They raced a quarter of the track and finished on the grass field. The first obstacle was a net that you had to crawl under, then futons were laid out and you had to somersault over them. At the turn from the track you had to janken (rock, paper, scissors) with a teach and win to move on. Right before the finish was a big blue trap in the middle of the field that was being hosed and held on all sides so there was a big pool of water in the middle. The kids could run along a narrow beam or dive through the water slide but most everyone chose to slide. Right before the last kids went a crazy teacher Okayasu-sensei challenged some teachers that were there helping. In the last second I was told to come over too.

It was all in fun but we were pretty competitive because we were on separate teams. As we ran the course we grabbed the janken teacher and made him get wet too. As I came around the curve to the tarp I was just behind a few teachers and sprinted into a face first slide. The cool water immediately was disorientating and I could hardly see. I jumped up at the end of the tarp and became aware I was squishy(my tennis shoes where filled with water) and soaked. I just started running immediately and ran past the others to finish first. Woooohooo! Yeah I won. Everyone was cheering and the student captain of my team ran out and gave me a big hug. That was the highlight of the day.

As the day went on I helped out even more and missed lunch. The afternoon sun was brutal and to make it worse i got a little burned on my face. It was actually funny though because I forgot I was wearing a headband and I have a huge tan line on my forehead! Everyone would look at me and laugh. I didn't care I just took part in a Japanese tradition few foreigners get to see. The day was packed with references to jap culture and mentality. Too many to think of now. One thing is for sure, I will not forget this day for a long time to come.